Power of a Princess

by E. D. Baker

  Only Deela and Aislin were left to take care of the first fairies they’d found. They were scraping away at the moss when even more fairies started screaming down by the lake. Deela looked up, then back at the princess. “I don’t want to leave you alone,” she said. “Maybe you should come with me.”

  “Don’t abandon us!” Cornflower shouted at Aislin, and all three tiny fairies burst into tears again.

  “Go!” Aislin told Deela. “I’ll be fine here. I almost have Dandelion free.”

  “If you’re sure …” said the orc girl.

  Aislin nodded. “We can’t leave the fairies alone and frightened.”

  “Call me if you need me and I’ll come running,” Deela told her.

  “I will,” Aislin said, and went back to work, determined to free the fairies by herself.

  Aislin was trying so hard to free the fairies without hurting them that she didn’t hear the person who crept up behind her. And then he was opening a small green vial under her nose, letting gray mist curl out. The princess realized what was happening just before she and the three tiny fairies collapsed, senseless.

  Aislin dreamed that she was floating through the forest, but the ride was bumpy and not very comfortable. Her arm was warm, which she thought was odd. She came to her senses enough to figure out that the fairy seamstresses had done what she’d asked and already started sewing the stones into her dresses. They had put a diamond in the sleeve, and it had worked just as she’d hoped—she was already drawing power from it.

  Aislin kept her eyes closed even as she felt the blackness that had taken over her mind fade away and her body grow stronger. She felt the same way she had upon waking from the sleeping mist that the fairy Aghamonda had used on her and knew that it would take a few minutes before she felt normal again.

  Someone was carrying her through the forest, pausing now and then as if to listen. She could hear her abductor’s heart pounding in his chest right behind her ear. His breath rasped as he ran. When he stopped again, she heard the sounds of a restless horse snapping a twig with its hooves and snorting as her abductor approached it.

  Not knowing who was carrying her off, Aislin was reluctant to open her eyes. Her abductor had to be strong, but then a lot of fey were much stronger than they looked. She didn’t think it was the mysterious female who was spreading rumors about her, but what if it was? Who else could be doing this and why? If her abductor wanted to hurt her, wouldn’t it have happened already?

  Aislin knew too much about the many kinds of fey to be naive about what they were capable of doing. Certain fey were even more bloodthirsty than the wildest of beasts. If the person who was spreading rumors had turned even one of them against Aislin, the princess would have a real fight on her hands.

  Her abductor was laying her across the horse’s back when Aislin finally slitted her eyes open. It was Rory, which was a relief in a way. He was an ordinary human and not one of the nastier kinds of fey. And the fact that it was Rory didn’t surprise her at all once she thought about it—not after the way he had acted the night before.

  Aislin didn’t want to let him know that she was awake until she was certain that no one else was working with him, so she let her head flop against his shoulder and looked around with her eyes barely open. Finally, seeing that he was alone, she twisted in his arms and elbowed him in the nose.

  “Ow!” Rory shouted and dropped her.

  Aislin was only partly on the horse’s back, so it was easy to slide to the ground. Turning around, she stomped on Rory’s instep.

  “Ow!” he shouted again and lurched backward, only to trip over a stump and fall to the ground. Blood flowed between the fingers he held to his nose and he lay on the ground, looking up at her accusingly.

  “You were kidnapping me?” she said, glaring at him.

  “You didn’t leave me any choice,” said Rory. “My father will be so happy if I marry you, he won’t even think about having another son. He’s very impressed with you now that he knows who you are and what you’re capable of doing.”

  Aislin was so mad she was shaking. “I don’t care what you or your father thinks. I’m never going to marry you.”

  “Princess Aislin!” Deela shouted from back the way they’d come.

  “Now see what you’ve done,” griped Rory. “We could have gotten away if you hadn’t punched me. I thought you were still asleep.”

  Aislin shook her head. “I didn’t punch you; I used my elbow.”

  She called out to Deela. “I’m over here!”

  Rory started to get up, but Aislin set her foot on his chest and pushed him down. When he tried to shove her off, she pressed until he grunted and gave in. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just stay put!” she told him.

  She was still standing like that when Poppy flew up, tiny and shaken. The fairy landed beside her and became big again only to glance from the princess to Rory. “I should have known Rory was behind this. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” said Aislin. “I think this whole thing wasn’t about the fairies. It was just Rory’s way of getting me alone so he could kidnap me.”

  “I was only—” Rory began.

  “Don’t say another word,” Aislin told him. “You’ll get your chance to explain yourself to my grandparents.”

  Rory’s face turned pale under the blood still seeping from his nose.

  Deela and Lin ran up, carrying the two little mestari. The moment Lin stopped, Twinket jumped out of her arms and darted over to hug Aislin’s leg.

  “I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone!” Deela exclaimed.

  “It’s not your fault,” said Aislin. “I told you to go. We’re taking Prince Rory back to the palace. He’s going to talk to King Darinar and Queen Surinen, whether he wants to or not.”

  Chapter 13

  It wasn’t long before the fairies still sticky with pinesap were on their way to the palace to tell everyone what had happened. Long before Aislin and her ladies crossed the crystal bridge, word about Rory’s treachery had spread. Captain Larch met them at the palace gates and had his fairies take Rory into custody. When Aislin and her mestari reached the throne room, King Darinar and Queen Surinen were already seated on their thrones, waiting for them. King Tyburr was there as well, looking furious. Aislin wasn’t sure if he was angry because of what his son had done, or because Rory was being escorted into the room under guard.

  When Aislin and her mestari went to stand to the left of the aisle leading to the throne, Captain Larch’s fairies took Rory to the right. The prince just stood there, looking sullen and refusing to meet his father’s eyes or even look in the direction of Aislin’s grandparents.

  “I understand that Prince Rory laid traps for my fairies,” Queen Surinen said to Aislin.

  “He did, and then when my mestari were distracted helping the fairies, he tried to kidnap me,” Aislin told her.

  “Pardon me, Your Majesty, but we don’t know for certain that Prince Rory was involved in any of this,” said his father.

  “Would his confession be enough to convince you?” the fairy queen asked King Tyburr.

  “It would,” said the king, and turned to his son. “Did you make traps for the fairies?”

  “Of course not! I would never do anything like that,” said Rory. “I had gone for a walk in the woods when the fairies tied me up and brought me here for no reason at all.”

  “I’m not convinced that he’s telling the truth,” King Darinar said.

  “My son would never lie!” protested King Tyburr.

  “In that case, a truth spell shouldn’t make any difference,” said the fairy queen. “Prince Rory, I command you to tell the truth for the rest of your life and to answer every question we ask you.” Silver sparkles shot from her pointed finger and swirled around Rory. He batted at the sparkles even as they landed on his head.

  “I don’t want to,” Rory cried.

  “I’m sure that’s the truth,” Twinket whispered to Aislin.

  “Now he
’ll know what it was like for Tomas,” Aislin murmured back.

  “What do you mean?” asked Twinket.

  Aislin realized that she had never told her friends about the christening gift a fairy had given to Tomas when he was an infant.

  “I’ll tell you about it later,” Aislin told the doll.

  “Prince Rory of Morain, did you lay traps for my fairies and try to kidnap my granddaughter, Princess Aislin?” said the fairy queen.

  The prince clapped his hands over his mouth, but the words came out anyway. “I laid the traps because I had to make Aislin’s mestari leave her by herself. Fairies in distress were the only thing I could think of to draw her ladies away. When she was alone, it was easy to knock her out with the sleeping mist.”

  “It felt like the same mist that Aghamonda had used on Poppy and Tomas and me in the castle in Scarmander,” Aislin told them.

  “No wonder you conked out!” exclaimed Poppy. “That stuff was awful.”

  Thunder rumbled over the palace when King Darinar growled, “Prince Rory, why did you want to kidnap Aislin?”

  Rory struggled to remain silent, but the fairy queen’s magic was too strong for him to resist. “I said it was because my father wanted me to marry the princess—”

  “I never told you to do any of this!” his father roared.

  “—but it was really because She told me to bring Aislin to her!” Rory finally blurted out.

  “So ‘She’ was involved!” said Aislin.

  “Who is ‘She’?” demanded the queen. “Where were you supposed to take Aislin?”

  Rory’s face contorted as he tried not to talk, but the queen’s spell was too compelling. “She’s a very powerful sorceress named Gorinda. She said that she’d tell me where to go once I’d brought Aislin to Morain.” Tears trickled down his cheeks as he turned to King Tyburr. “Father, can’t we just leave now? Aislin isn’t going to come with me, and Gorinda’s going to be so angry that we’ll lose her protection.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” King Tyburr said, looking horrified. “Hold your tongue, boy, before you spout any more foolish prattle.”

  “No!” said the fairy king. Although he kept his voice low, it had more power in it than the thunder rumbling outside. King Tyburr flinched and bowed his head.

  “This boy interests me,” King Darinar continued. “Let him tell us what he knows about this sorceress.”

  King Tyburr’s head shot up. “There isn’t one,” he exclaimed. “Rory made her up to excuse his actions.”

  Queen Surinen leaned forward on her throne to stare into the human king’s eyes. Her own eyes seemed to burn into him. “I used a truth spell on your son, so I know that he isn’t lying. Must I use one on you as well?”

  King Tyburr’s face turned pale and he took a step back. “That would be unthinkable. I am a king. I would consider a spell like that an act of war if you even try to use it on me.”

  “That won’t be necessary, my dear,” King Darinar told his wife, setting his hand on top of hers. “I’m sure we can still learn much from Prince Rory.”

  The queen turned her gaze on Rory, which made him squirm and look away. “You’re right,” she said. “Prince Rory, describe Gorinda to me. What does she look like?”

  Rory looked as if he’d tasted something bad and was about to spit, but all he finally said was, “I can’t say. And now that I think hard about it, I can’t even picture her in my mind.”

  Queen Surinen frowned. “Gorinda has used magic on him.”

  With a crook of her finger, she summoned one of her sprite attendants to her. A few whispered words and the little man darted off. He was back in less than a minute, holding a pouch to his chest. Handing it to the queen, he bowed and backed away. With deft fingers, the queen opened the pouch and removed a pinch of the dust inside. Holding it before her lips, she leaned toward Rory and blew gently. The dust puffed around him and seemed to disappear as it landed on his skin, his hair, and his clothes.

  Rory looked relieved at first when nothing seemed to happen. But after a few seconds his entire body began to vibrate and give off a faint hum that set Aislin’s teeth on edge even from across the room. Rory glanced down at himself in surprise.

  Queen Surinen stood and stepped down from the raised dais to examine him more closely. As he began to turn a sickly shade of blue, with a darker color forming around his mouth, she nodded. “It seems that Gorinda has placed a geas on you, preventing you from talking about her. I believe she has also placed a compulsion on you to do something,” she said as the color turned muddy green. “Turn your head and look at Aislin.”

  The queen pointed at Rory, then made a swooping gesture with her hand, causing him to turn so that he was facing Aislin. The green flared to a brighter shade and stayed that way until the fairy queen made him look away. “What’s going on?” Rory asked in a strangled voice.

  Queen Surinen climbed back up the dais to sit on her throne again. She studied Rory, looking more and more distressed as time passed. “The compulsion she placed on you was related to Aislin,” the queen finally said. “More than likely it was to make you take Aislin from us. The compulsion won’t go away if you leave here. If you were to return home, you would be back again and again until you succeeded. Even if you weren’t guilty of trickery and attempted abduction, we couldn’t let you go with your father, at least not until we learn who this Gorinda really is and what she has planned.

  “As it is, Gorinda has layered spells over spells. I could hurt you if I were to remove them in the incorrect order, so at this point I don’t dare try. Once I learn what kind of magic Gorinda uses, I should be able to ascertain what I need to do to counter it.”

  “But I swear I won’t come near Aislin again!” protested Rory. “I just want to go home now.”

  “A compulsion is meant to make you do something whether you want to or not,” said King Darinar. “Queen Surinen is right in saying that you must stay here for now. We have to keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t act on the compulsion. And compulsion or not, you must be held accountable for your actions.”

  Queen Surinen nodded. “You trapped our fairies and attempted to kidnap our granddaughter. No one may do such things without consequences. For trapping my fairies, you must clean all the windows of the palace. And for the crime of treating my granddaughter as you did, you will be turned into a marmoset for as long as it takes you to clean the windows.”

  “What’s a marmoset?” Kimble asked Poppy.

  “A little kind of monkey,” Poppy replied. “I think they’re cute, but I wouldn’t want to be one, especially not if I had to clean all those windows!”

  “That human prince should be grateful that the queen didn’t think of something more permanent,” Deela added.

  “But my son—” began King Tyburr.

  “Will be safe here until he has served his sentence and we have removed the compulsion,” King Darinar told him. “If you want him back, you must help us all you can. Do you know anything of this Gorinda? Have you ever met her or heard of her before now?”

  King Tyburr sighed. “Yes, I know of the woman, but my kingdom’s relationship with her is not a happy one and I had hoped not to make it public. Years ago, Gorinda came to my father and threatened to make our crops fail and our wells go dry if we didn’t pay her a tithe every year. My father was weak. He feared the sorceress and paid the tithe year after year. On his deathbed, he made me promise that I would as well, saying that Morain was not strong enough to stand up to her. I’m ashamed to say that I continued what he had started without considering taking up arms against her. I didn’t know how to fight her magic. When Aghamonda came to me, saying she could help me defeat the king of Scarmander, I foolishly thought to ask her to help us defeat Gorinda. But our conversation never reached that point.”

  “Have you ever met Gorinda?” asked Queen Surinen.

  “No, I haven’t,” replied the king.

  “Did you know that your son had m
et her?” King Darinar asked him.

  King Tyburr shook his head. “I didn’t know until I heard him speak of her just now. I thought he’d heard rumors and wanted to use them to invent an excuse for his behavior. Now I know that I was wrong. I’m sorry, Rory,” he said to his son. “I should have believed you.”

  Rory shrugged and looked away.

  “Do you have anything to say for yourself?” the fairy queen asked Rory.

  The prince made a face, but once again the words spilled out even when he fought to stay silent. “All I can say is that I wouldn’t have tried to take Aislin the way I did if I’d known that I’d get caught. I would have tried something else then. I just don’t know what it would have been.”

  “I like that truth spell!” Poppy whispered to her friends.

  Aislin took a step forward. “If I may, Grandmother, I have something to say.” When the queen nodded, Aislin turned to Rory. “You still seem to think that you don’t have to be nice to people. I just want you to know that compulsion or not, whether you’re talking about a fairy or a princess, there’s never a good excuse to be unkind to anyone.”

  Queen Surinen nodded again. “Very true. And I want Prince Rory to think about that as he serves his sentence.” Pointing her finger at Rory, she announced, “Your sentence begins now!” A ray of sparkling light shot from her finger and hit Prince Rory squarely on his chest. As the light engulfed him, he began to shrink. His clothes disappeared as he became covered in fur. Within moments, he was a monkey small enough to fit in Aislin’s pocket.

  King Darinar turned to one of the guards standing at the side of the room. “Take Prince Rory to the kitchen and ask the scullery maids to give him soap and water so he may start washing the windows. Aislin, you and your mestari may go now. I’m sure you’d like to rest after your ordeal.”

  Aislin bowed to her grandparents and hurried from the room with her ladies in tow. “What I really want to do is take a bath,” she told Poppy. “Knowing that Rory touched me makes my skin feel dirty.”